An ambassador is a diplomatic officer of the highest rank. A diplomatic officer can be an ambassador, envoy extraordinary, minister plenipotentiary, minister resident, commissioner, charge d’affaires, agent, and secretary of legation[i].
An ambassador is an official who represents the people of his/her sovereign. S/he is a minister sent abroad by some sovereign state or ruler, with a legal commission and authority to transact business on behalf of his/her country with the government to which s/he is sent.
U.S. statutes provide that the position of U.S. ambassador to a foreign country should be accorded to men and women possessing clearly demonstrated competence to perform ambassadorial duties[ii].
Pursuant to 22 USCS § 3941, only citizens of the U.S. may be appointed as ambassadors. The U.S. Constitution[iii] and statutes[iv] provide that the President has the power to nominate and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint ambassadors.
Apart from ambassadors generally, the U.S. President also appoints highly respected individuals as Ambassadors at Large to[v]:
- advance the right to freedom of religion abroad,
- denounce the violation of that right, and
- to recommend appropriate responses by the United States Government when right to freedom of religion is violated.
The ambassador controls a specific territory called an embassy, whose territory, staff, and even vehicles are generally afforded diplomatic immunity to most laws of the host country.
The powers of an ambassador may include the authority to conclude international agreements[vi]. Further, s/he is responsible for developing, coordinating, and implementing U.S. foreign policy in the host country on a variety of issues that deal with democracy, human rights, economic prosperity, protection of the environment, regional cooperation and conflict resolution, halting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and combating terrorism and international crime.
Ambassadors are, by definition, fiduciaries for the country they represent[vii]. S/he occupies a position of public trust and owes a fiduciary duty to the U.S[viii].
An ambassador may have the power to bind the state that s/he represents[ix]. An ambassador may enter into ordinary contracts incidental to life in the receiving state, such as purchasing legal services without being subject to civil suits related to those contracts[x].
However, an ambassador’s actions under color of authority do not automatically bind the state that s/he represents[xi]. If s/he purports to enter into an agreement without the power to do so and in collusion with a contracting party that knows s/he lacks such power, the agreement will not be binding[xii].
Article 31 of the Vienna Convention provides that an ambassador enjoy immunity from the criminal jurisdiction of the receiving State. S/he also enjoys immunity from its civil and administrative jurisdiction[xiii].
[i] In re Baiz, 135 U.S. 403 (U.S. 1890).
[ii] 22 USCS § 2688.
[iii] USCS Const. Art. II, § 2, Cl 2.
[iv] 22 USCS § 3942(a) (1).
[v] 22 USCS § 6411.
[vi] First Fidelity Bank, N.A. v. Government of Antigua & Barbuda-Permanent Mission, 877 F.2d 189 (2d Cir. N.Y. 1989).
[vii] Republic of Rwanda v. Uwimana (In re Uwimana), 274 F.3d 806 (4th Cir. Md. 2001).
[viii] United States v. King, 469 F. Supp. 167 (D.S.C. 1979).
[ix] First Fidelity Bank, N.A. v. Government of Antigua & Barbuda-Permanent Mission, 877 F.2d 189 (2d Cir. N.Y. 1989).
[x] Republic of Rwanda v. Uwimana, 255 B.R. 669 (D. Md. 2000).
[xi] Id.
[xii] Jota v. Texaco Inc., 157 F.3d 153 (2d Cir. N.Y. 1998).
[xiii] 23 U.S.T. 3227.
